


Where One Leaves, Another Takes Its Place (Pocket Hog AU AU)

by tharkflark1



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Angst, Consider this the alternate more sad beginning to Pocket Hog, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I say help way too much, based of a deleted scene, i wrote this at 1 am, its sad hours yall, the Pocket Hog au au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tharkflark1/pseuds/tharkflark1
Summary: Based off a scrapped idea that Longclaw escaped with Sonic to Earth at the beginning of the movie. But Pocket hog-ified.(Also I really wanted that Maddie and Sonic content.)
Relationships: Longclaw & Sonic the Hedgehog, Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Maddie Wachowski, maddiextom is only mentioned
Comments: 36
Kudos: 175





	Where One Leaves, Another Takes Its Place (Pocket Hog AU AU)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rockmilkshake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockmilkshake/gifts), [NiyanaIsNotSane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NiyanaIsNotSane/gifts).



Maddie perks up from her coffee at the sound of rapid, tiny knocks on her front door.

It was pretty early that morning with Tom having left some time before because “Wade was freaking out” and he “didn’t want him to accidentally make the fence broken any more than it already was”. She had rolled her eyes at the “emergency” but bid him an amused goodbye anyway. Checking the news and reading the emails on her phone, Maddie didn’t need to leave for another good hour or so and certainly wasn’t expecting any visitors.

Sighing, she scoots out of her chair and enters the hall. It was probably one of the kids in town looking for Tom or to ask her about any cool animals she saw yesterday (they were always so genuinely curious she and Tom could never have the heart to turn them away). 

The knocks continued and increased in frequency as she pondered on whether or not to open it.

Maddie reaches for the door knob, “Good m-” 

The doorway stands empty. 

She looks around at the deserted front yard. That was weird. She didn’t think she’s ever been ding-dong-ditched before. Huffing, Maddie’s about to close the door when, 

“W-wait! Please! D-Down here!”

She looks down. 

And she needs a minute.

It’s...blue. That’s the first way to describe the tiny shaking  _ thing _ standing on her steps. It’s also furry and wearing tiny gloves and shoes. 

“ _ What was in my coffee?? _ ” 

The vet rubs her eyes. It’s still there. 

Bright green eyes stare up at her. It seems to be unable to sit still and is frozen at the same time (oh good it wasn’t just her). Maddie swallows.

“Uh, hell-”

“Can you help me?!”

Okay. It wanted help.

Okay.

Help. 

She could do that.

“H-Help?”

It nods, clenching its small fists. “L-Longclaw! She’s sick and I don’t know what to do and she’s really hot to the touch and I know I’m not supposed to talk to humans but you make animals better and she’s kinda an animal and I didn’t know what to do because she’s never been sick before and she’s coughing a lot and won’t move, please help her, please I-I don’t know what to do I-I-I-I,” The poor thing’s speech devolves into hiccupping sobs. “ _ P-Please help _ ...”

“Hey, hey,” Maddie squats down to the creature’s level (or, at least tries to. It’s really small). “I’ll help you.”

It rubs its wet muzzle with the back of its glove. “R-Really?”

“Yeah, just...just let me grab my first aid kit, and you can show me where she is, okay?”

It sniffles and nods. “Okay, but please hurry…”

Maddie rushes back into the house (not minding to close the door) and clambors around the cabinets for a bit. She honestly should have been freaking out right now. Really, she should. There was some _ thing _ currently in front of her house on an early Tuesday morning. It would have been perfectly reasonable for her to step out and panic. But currently the thing on her doorstep desperately needed her help, and she could keep from freaking out a little longer to do just that.

She finally spots the kit in the back. Quickly putting the strap around her shoulder, Maddie slips on her flats at the front and steps outside. 

The blue creature is running in place impatiently when she shuts the door behind her. It  _ zips! _ up worriedly to Maddie faster than she can blink, tugging at her pant leg and pointing. “This way! This way!” It then disappears in a squiggly blue streak back around the house. 

Maddie blinks in the direction of where it went. It was also fast. Okay. Okay. 

Taking a few melodic breaths ( _ thank you, yoga videos _ ) and shaking her head, the vet pats her cheeks a few times and follows suit. The creature sped ahead, occasionally stopping and waiting for her to catch up before running off again. She was thankful that the thing left a blue streak behind for her to follow and his bright color made him easy to spot in the dense foliage. But she wasn’t sure what to expect when they finally arrived at the destination.

Maybe come across a fallen spaceship or a clutch of alien eggs. But instead the tiny creature dragged her within a small natural cave by her fingertips. It was small but large enough for her to comfortably crouch into. A dying campfire sat in the middle of the space, along with some old blankets she recognized from the fabric store in town. The blue creature let go of her hand to run up to something large next to the fire. “Longclaw! Longclaw, I brought you the nice lady to help you get better!”

As she got closer, Maddie again had to stop to process the scene before her.

It was an owl. But bigger (the largest owl in the world was the Great Gray Owl, but those lived in Europe and never reached  _ nearly _ as big as this). It was mostly brown but the dim light gave its feathers a lavender sheen. Long tufts of tannish orange feathers framed its light colored face (not unlike the more native great-horned owl but this  _ clearly was not one of those _ ). Besides its size and the large chestplate it wore, it was strangely normal compared to the creature at her feet. Said thing turns its head towards the vet, its bright emerald eyes glossy in worry.

“Can, can you help her?”

Wary of the claws that could easily tear off a limb, Maddie kneeled next to its torso and slipped her bag off her shoulder. The vet isn’t entirely sure how to begin her assessment (owls, though they lived in Green Hills’ woods, weren’t something she was trained in) but the creature’s earlier mention of a high temperature was a good place to start. 

Maddie quickly takes off the wet rag on the owl’s forehead (probably put there by the blue creature in an attempt to cool the fowl off) and replaces the back of her hand with it. True to the little thing’s word the bird was running a high enough high temperature that just barely grazing the feathers you could feel its warmth. 

Pulling out her stethoscope and placing it in her ears, she listens to it’s chest movements. It was breathing and had a heartbeat, but they were both unsteady and weak. Its chest spasmed in a muffled cough (or huff, Maddie’s not completely sure) as it slept.

Noting the spilled over “ _ Fever medicine _ ” bottles, she calmly addresses the smaller creature, “How long has it been like this?”

It looks back at the owl. “A-A few weeks. She told me she was gonna be okay! That, that she would be able to fly me over the trees again in a couple days! So I went and stole some healing things, but-but she kept coughing and wouldn’t get up anymore. I know I’m not supposed to talk to humans, and she told me she was gonna be okay, but she wouldn’t wake up this morning and I know you fix animals and make them better and I was scared so I left and got you,” It’s eyes shimmer with unshed tears. “Is she gonna be okay?”

Maddie gazes sadly back down at her patient. The best thing to do now would probably, alien or not, be to call an owl rehabilitator, but none lived anywhere near Green Hills; It would take time for them to get here. 

And from what Maddie could tell, time was not something they had. 

The silence from the vet has the creature tugging on her pant leg. “But-but you help animals! You make them better! I’ve seen you do it! Wh-what’s wrong with her? Why can’t you fix her?!”

Sighing and pulling her stethoscope down to her collarbone, Maddie looks at the child clinging to her, pleading for answers. Because she could see it clearly now: this was a kid, no older than a toddler, scared for its guardian. Scared of losing someone they cared about. That took care of them. It was intelligent, and judging from its reaction, it probably knew what was happening. What was inevitable.

She gently places her hands on the creature’s small shoulders, rubbing away the tears that slipped down its furred cheeks. “I’m a vet, yes. And I do help heal animals and pets when they come to me. But, this is out of my control. I can only do so much.” 

Its eyes widen fearfully at her words.

At that moment, the owl fumbles awake in a fit of coughing. It’s wings beat weakly against the air as its glossy turquoise eyes struggle to open.

“S..Sonic…”

The creature’s, Sonic’s, head swivels fast enough toward the owl that it probably would have given anyone else whiplash. It rushes to the owl’s side, pushing its head and hands into her feathers. “I’m” — It sniffles and blinks away the tears in its eyes — “I’m here, Longclaw…”

It shakily stretches out the wing that’s not pinned by its body, rubbing the smaller creature’s head comfortingly. It speaks softly and with a mother’s cadance, but it’s weak and breathless. 

“You...you need to be strong, okay? You need to go...without me.”

“But I don’t want to go without you! You said we’d stay safe here. You said you’d stay with me forever!”

Longclaw smiles. “It...It’ll be okay.” The owl’s sharp eyes meet Maddie’s, sending her a clear message without words.

The vet nods solemnly.

The glossy orbs slide back over to Sonic’s watery ones. “You’re strong, Sonic...I, I know you’ll do great things...I love you…”

The small creature hiccups. “I-I love you too, Longclaw.”

The owl hums as its eyes slip close. 

Sonic wipes his eyes, “Longclaw..?”

The wing sitting on Sonic’s head falls onto the rocky floor. 

“Longclaw? Longclaw!”

Longclaw breathes once, then stops.

“ _ Longclaw! _ ”

Maddie averts her eyes to the ground as Sonic’s cries echo into the dawn.

And with a soft morning breeze, the fire dies.

_______________________________

Maddie can’t stop the thought that if only they had come to her earlier, maybe she could have helped the owl. Maybe she could have done  _ something _ . 

Her and Sonic stand over the makeshift grave that she had assisted in creating for the fallen owl. The mound of soil is topped with a single feather (“ _ Longclaw’s _ ” Sonic had said.) and lay at the edge of the cliff overlooking the town. 

But that was in the past. She couldn’t do anything now.

The small creature had not said a word the few hours it had taken to give Longclaw the proper burial. Instead, he stood silently, except for the occasional sniffle, next to the vet. 

Maddie looks down at the now orphaned child before.

She should leave them be, let him grieve on his own, but she can’t bring herself to leave. 

The owl had wanted her to keep Sonic safe. 

And so, she gently scoops up the creature at her feet. The action stirs up something within him, and Sonic once again begins sobbing into her shoulder. She soothes, whispering meaningless words and petting the creature’s soft spines and fur.

As they trudged back to the house, Maddie pulls out her phone (which is filled with questioning messages from her co-workers on her whereabouts). She quickly taps out a response of “ _ Sick. Staying home today. _ ” before tucking the device back into her pocket.

Longclaw’s dying wishes had asked for help.

And help she could do.

**Author's Note:**

> I cried writing this. I hope yall liked it.
> 
> This would have been the beginning to Pocket Hog had I seen the deleted scene before. So its an AU AU now. This is staying a one-shot.


End file.
